GLINT's Arc

Chapter 3 of 10

The sewer air burned Glint's throat. Green light rose from the goo and lit the curved stone walls. He coughed, pulled his collar over his nose, and pushed deeper. The fumes stung his eyes, but he did not stop. His letter was down here. His whole future was down here. Then he saw it. The letter floated on the glowing flow, its red wax seal still whole. The paper spun slow in the current, just out of reach. "There you is," Glint whispered. He crept to the edge and stretched his arm over the slime. His fingers reached. The torn corner brushed his claw. The goo erupted. A wall of flesh heaved up from under the surface, dripping and huge. Tentacles coiled around the rusted shell of a crab. Mouths opened across the thing's body, each lined with crooked teeth. Eyes rolled open everywhere, wet and watching. The crab crunched between two of the mouths. Teal lights blinked out one by one. And there, stuck to a single large eye near the top, was the letter. Glint looked up at the towering monster. He wiped slime off his chin. "You'se gots to be kidding me," he muttered. The eye with the letter swiveled toward him. The whole mass lurched his way. Tentacles slapped the flow and splashed burning goo across the walls. Glint dove behind a thick pipe. A drop hit his arm and hissed on his sleeve. He slapped it out, teeth clenched.